The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-03-13
BEECHRR As An ORATOR
CeETRASrED WITH THE COLD
AND MEASURED RVARTS.
Col. John r Fellows q Small Edit'On
OF Daniel Webster - Edison's
MementO Of Beecher.
ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS or TIE lPPEAL.I

ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS OF TIE lPPEAL.l
NEW YORK, March II Nobody
who ever heard one Of Beecher's
speeches will deny that the greatest
American orator Of the day is lost.
This encomium does not apply to his
lectures. He was far fir m being at
his best in speaking piece over and
over. He exceIled on occasions of
arousal, when ideas came right along
with the words to express them, and
lis most powerful eloquence was
without premeditation. Probably
no pastor in the world ever earbed a
big salary with less effort. He would
do none OF the drndgery of his Of
fee. Pastoral calls he never made.
The sick of his congregation we're
ministered to by his assistant. He
very rarely thought of his Sunday
sermons before Saturday, and then
confined himself to few notes on a
single sheet of paper. OF the Ian
guage to be used he took no care un-
til in the pulpit. This habit was
what rendered him so poor and slow
at writing books and stories. His
Life of Christ remained unfinished
for ten years, though within few
months of his death he positively
agreed to set about the second vol
ume. But with all his great feats of
oratory'he missed the opportunity of
his life. At least that was the way
he ielt about it, The jury
in the famous scandal trial
failed to agree on verdict.
Beecher ever afterward believed, and
said SO to his intimate lrieOds, that
if he bad addressed the jurors in his
own behalf he would have won them
over unanimously The speech by
Evarts lasted six days and though ex-
haustive and able, lacked the faintest
spark Of moving eloquence. The sug-
gestion that Beecher h: mself should
sum up for the defense was made by
his closest friend, Deacon Howard,
and Beecher took to it strongly, but
he allowed himself to be dlssuaded.
To his death he firmly believed that
he could have got verdict, and
doubtless he was right.
| Talk is cheap? Not always. Col.
Fellows, whose sudden indisposition
jeopardized the trial of Doodle AL
derman Cleary this week, gets $4,000
year from the District Attorneys
Office for making speeches to juries.
He rarely has anything important to
do with the preparation or conduct
of prosecutions. He is hired alone
for his oratory. He is thorough
bohemian, deeply in debt, jovially
reckless, and without political or
social influence; buI set him on his
feet before a jury, provide him with
knowledge OF the points to be EN-
phasized, and he will electrify his
hearers. In appearance he is a
sawed off Daniel Webster, his head
being massively handsome, but his
stature very short. He was in the
rebel army during the war. John
Kelly was the New York discoverel
OF his wonderful gift of eloquence
and he employed him to make Tam.
many speeches. He is q remarkable
example OF fluency, and there.is hard
ly a lawyer in town who equals hin
in that respect.
No more curious memento O
Beecher exists than that owned BY
Edison, the inventor OF the phono
graph. That instrument for i'm
pressing on soft metal sheet the ut
terances of the human voice anC
then emitting it again by the turning
of a crank, could never be put t
any valuable use, and Edison has
only gained from it a few thousand
dollars in royalties from exhibitors
But he utilized it to make collec.
ton of famous voices. Since he be.
came famous his visitors have in.
cluded hundreds OF celebrities. In
stead of asking them for their aut o
graphs or photographs, he has il
two or three hundred instances re.
quested them to speak few sen
fences into a phonograph. He hal
kept the plates in cabinet, and oc
casiopally he runs some of then
through the machine, which send.
out the words exactly as uttered
Edison is probably the only mar
who can revive the silenced voice o
the great preacher.